Updates

Mixed Results for Early Teal Season

The Early Teal season in the high plains states has gotten off to a mixed start, with many hunters reporting no birds and others reporting outstanding hunting.

Photo: Colorado Outdoor Sports

Colorado's teal season runs September 12-20.

Justin Swanson, Membership Director for Colorado Outdoor Sports, was one of the hunters who experienced outstanding hunting.

"A buddy and I hunted one of our properties in southeastern Colorado on opening day. We both took limits. In fact, there were ducks of all kinds and we saw teal in waves all day long."

In western Kansas, the early teal season runs September 19-26.

As of September 4, the manager at Kansas's Cedar Bluff Wildlife Area was rating the migration a "1" on a scale of 1 to 10, with no teal reported as being present. In contrast, hunting success is expected to be good at the Jamestown Wildlife area, with a few thousand birds present and trading between the marshes throughout the day.

Nebraska waterfowlers got off to an early start this year, with a September 5 opener. The early teal season was moved up one week following a public hearing at the Nebraska Game and Parks July meeting, with many hunters believing Nebraska historically started hunting teal too late to catch the peak migration.

Field reports from Nebraska have varied widely, but there seems to be consensus that while teal are present, numbers are on the low end and will improve with time. Unfortunately, the western Nebraska early teal season closed on September 13.

Looking ahead to the opener for regular duck seasons (varying by state, but typically the 1st or 2nd weekend of October), there's much to be optimistic about. Across the board, hunters have been reporting healthy numbers of big ducks, and there should be plenty of teal left as well.